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TriMet ridership up in October

Transit agency also gearing up for busy day at airport

TriMet ridership in October was sharply up and set a number of new records. For the month, there were 8.8 million trips taken on buses, MAX trains and the Westside Express Commuter Rail (WES), an increase of more than 2 percent compared to October 2010.

In October, rush hour ridership was the highest in three years. Weekly bus ridership was the highest since February 2010. A new record was set for the MAX Green Line that connects Clackamas County to downtown Portland. And a new record was set for the WES line that runs between Beaverton and Wilsonville.

TriMet is also gearing up for the busiest day of the year on the MAX Red Line that runs to and from the Portland International Airport - the day before Thanksgiving. Extra staff will be on hand this week to help assist travelers at the airport.

MAX ridership at the airport on the day before Thanksgiving is about 50 percent higher than on a typical weekday. Last year, 4,625 riders got on or off MAX at the airport. A typical weekday in November is around 3,100 riders.

The MAX Red Line runs every day from about 3:30 a.m. to nearly 1 a.m. between the Beaverton Transit Center and the airport. Riders can transfer to the Red Line from other MAX lines, as well as many bus lines. Regular fares apply both ways.

Here are the October 2011 figures compared to the same month last year:

Bus, MAX and WES

• Weekly trips were up 2 percent to 2,037,550.

• Weekday trips were up 1.4 percent to 337,490.

• Weekend trips were up 4.8 percent to 350,100.

• Rush-hour trips were up 3 percent to 108,590

Bus totals

• Weekly trips were up 2 percent to 1,205,100.

• Weekday trips were up 1.6 percent to 202,900.

• Weekend trips were up 4.6 percent to 190,600.

• Rush-hour trips were up 1.7 percent to 66,800.

MAX totals

• Weekly trips were up 1.8 percent to 824,000.

• Weekday trips were up 1 percent to 132,900.

• Weekend trips were up 5.1 percent to 159,500.

• Rush-hour trips were up 4.7 percent to 40,100.

MAX Green Line

• Weekday trips were up 8.3 percent to 24,800 - a new record high.

• Weekend trips were up 6.7 percent to 25,500.

WES

• Weekday/rush-hour trips were up 18.2 percent to 1,690 - a new record high.